| {{AUR|mimeo}} || Open files by MIME-type or file name using regular expressions. Also requires {{AUR|xdg-utils-mimeo}}. || {{pkg|file}}

+

|-

+

| {{AUR|mimi}} || A working replacement for xdg-open. || {{pkg|file}}

+

|}

===run-mailcap===

===run-mailcap===

−

The {{ic|.mailcap}} file format used by the mutt mail program is way easier to read and write. The {{pkg|run-mailcap}} package from the AUR provides a executable that could be easily symlinked to {{ic|/usr/bin/xdg-open}}, but that parser is unable to handle directories or links. The simplest solution would be to install mimeo from the AUR too and create a {{ic|/usr/bin/xdg-open}} with the following content:

+

The {{ic|.mailcap}} file format used by the mutt mail program is way easier to read and write. The {{AUR|run-mailcap}} package from the AUR provides a executable that could be easily symlinked to {{ic|/usr/bin/xdg-open}}, but that parser is unable to handle directories or links. The simplest solution would be to install mimeo from the AUR too and create a {{ic|/usr/bin/xdg-open}} with the following content:

#!/bin/sh

#!/bin/sh

Line 58:

Line 80:

returns a description of that mimetype.

returns a description of that mimetype.

−

−

=== mimeo ===

−

{{AUR|mimeo}} and {{AUR|xdg-utils-mimeo}} in [[Arch User Repository|AUR]] provide {{pkg|xdg-utils}} and contains a {{ic|xdg-open}} script patched to make use of {{ic|mimeo}} the same way {{ic|gnome-open}} would be used. Mimetype<->application associations can then be customised easily in {{ic|$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mimeo.conf}} (i.e.{{ic|~/.config/mimeo.conf}})

=== Environment Variables ===

=== Environment Variables ===

−

Some environment variables such as {{ic|BROWSER}}, {{ic|DE}} and {{ic|DESKTOP_SESSION}} will change behaviour of xdg-open. See [[Environment Variables]] for more information.

+

Some environment variables, such as {{ic|BROWSER}}, {{ic|DE}}, and {{ic|DESKTOP_SESSION}}, will change the behaviour of the default xdg-open. See [[Environment Variables]] for more information.

Revision as of 00:26, 18 February 2013

xdg-open is a desktop-independent tool for configuring the default applications of a user. Many applications invoke the xdg-open command internally.

Inside a desktop environment (e.g. GNOME, KDE, Xfce, etc.), xdg-open simply passes the arguments to that desktop environment's file-opener application (gvfs-open, kde-open, or exo-open, respectively), which means that the associations are left up to the desktop environment. When no desktop environment is detected (for example when one runs a standalone window manager, e.g. Openbox), xdg-open will use its own configuration files.

Installation

xdg-open is part of the xdg-utils package available in [extra]. xdg-open is for use inside a desktop session only. It is not recommended to use xdg-open as root.

Configuration

The config file

xdg-open uses configuration files located at $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications/mimeapps.list (for a single user; $XDG_DATA_HOME defaults to ~/.local/share) and /usr/share/applications/defaults.list (system wide). Its format is as follows:

run-mailcap

The .mailcap file format used by the mutt mail program is way easier to read and write. The run-mailcapAUR package from the AUR provides a executable that could be easily symlinked to /usr/bin/xdg-open, but that parser is unable to handle directories or links. The simplest solution would be to install mimeo from the AUR too and create a /usr/bin/xdg-open with the following content:

#!/bin/sh
run-mailcap $1 || mimeo $1

Then use the defaults.list at ~/.local/share/applications/ to associate URLs and folders with applications and the .mailcap file for normal mimetypes.

mimetype

mimetype in perl-file-mimeinfo package can display some mimetype-related information about a file.

For example:

$ mimetype file.ext

returns the mimetype of a file,

$ mimetype -d file.extension

returns a description of that mimetype.

Environment Variables

Some environment variables, such as BROWSER, DE, and DESKTOP_SESSION, will change the behaviour of the default xdg-open. See Environment Variables for more information.